New build advice, please

R

room509

Member
Hello!

Was wondering if you guys could help me, please? I’m after a new gaming PC and, though I’m somewhat literate when it comes to computers, keeping up to date and sifting through parts and checking compatibility of components gives me the fear big time.

My current PC is the PCSpecialist Vortex Venom II from 2015 (i5-4460, ASUS H110M-D, GTX 960), which is still working great, but it is starting to show its age in places. I’ve only upgraded the RAM as I haven’t felt confident to do anything else.

Ideally I'd like the new PC to be as future-proofed as possible. I only really play World of Warcraft, but I’m also wanting to start using Steam for other more demanding titles. I do also use Photoshop and store a lot of media locally so I opted for the mechanical 2TB HDD as well.

This is what I came up with while trying to pair against the monitor. I'd like to go with a 3070, but as they're out of stock at the moment, so for the purposes of posting, I added the 3070 Ti:

Budget: £1,750 starting, but willing to go a couple hundred more for future-proofing.

Monitor: LG 27GN850

Case
CORSAIR 4000D AIRFLOW TEMPERED GLASS GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i5 Six Core Processor i5-11600KF (3.9 GHz) 12 MB Cache
Motherboard
GIGABYTE Z590 AORUS ELITE AX (LGA1200, USB 3.2, PCIe 4.0, CrossFireX, Wi-Fi) - ARGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3070 Ti - HDMI, DP, LHR (I'd prefer to go for the 3070)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3500MB/R, 3300MB/W)
1st Storage Drive
2TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 256MB CACHE
External DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
8x Slim USB 2.0 External DVD-RW
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
CoolerMaster Hyper 212 (120mm) Fan CPU Cooler Black Edition
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
Extra Case Fans
3x Corsair LL120 RGB LED Fan + Controller Kit
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 11 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00003]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10/11 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Google Chrome™
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 12 to 14 working days

Price: £1,958.00 including VAT and Delivery (£1793.00 with the 3070)

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/intel-z490-pc/8DrXBYDk4z/

Cheers, and thanks for reading!
 
JUNI0R

JUNI0R

VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
room509 said:
Hello!

Was wondering if you guys could help me, please? I’m after a new gaming PC and, though I’m somewhat literate when it comes to computers, keeping up to date and sifting through parts and checking compatibility of components gives me the fear big time.

My current PC is the PCSpecialist Vortex Venom II from 2015 (i5-4460, ASUS H110M-D, GTX 960), which is still working great, but it is starting to show its age in places. I’ve only upgraded the RAM as I haven’t felt confident to do anything else.

Ideally I'd like the new PC to be as future-proofed as possible. I only really play World of Warcraft, but I’m also wanting to start using Steam for other more demanding titles. I do also use Photoshop and store a lot of media locally so I opted for the mechanical 2TB HDD as well.

This is what I came up with while trying to pair against the monitor. I'd like to go with a 3070, but as they're out of stock at the moment, so for the purposes of posting, I added the 3070 Ti:

Budget: £1,750 starting, but willing to go a couple hundred more for future-proofing.

Monitor: LG 27GN850

Case
CORSAIR 4000D AIRFLOW TEMPERED GLASS GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i5 Six Core Processor i5-11600KF (3.9 GHz) 12 MB Cache
Motherboard
GIGABYTE Z590 AORUS ELITE AX (LGA1200, USB 3.2, PCIe 4.0, CrossFireX, Wi-Fi) - ARGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3070 Ti - HDMI, DP, LHR (I'd prefer to go for the 3070)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3500MB/R, 3300MB/W)
1st Storage Drive
2TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 256MB CACHE
External DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
8x Slim USB 2.0 External DVD-RW
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
CoolerMaster Hyper 212 (120mm) Fan CPU Cooler Black Edition
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
Extra Case Fans
3x Corsair LL120 RGB LED Fan + Controller Kit
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 11 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00003]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10/11 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Google Chrome™
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 12 to 14 working days

Price: £1,958.00 including VAT and Delivery (£1793.00 with the 3070)

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/intel-z490-pc/8DrXBYDk4z/

Cheers, and thanks for reading!
Click to expand...
Heya!

It's arguably impossible to 'futureproof' a PC with how quickly PC tech moves, but I've made choices here that will prepare your PC for the future as best as possible. Any questions, ask away!

Case
CORSAIR 4000D AIRFLOW TEMPERED GLASS GAMING CASE Fantastic choice- I noticed you added 3 LL120 fans, if you want an RGB case, it'd be best pick one PCS has available (Corsair 220T, Cooler Master TD500) or send one in, as this gives much better value. The Corsair 4000X is a great pick if you wanted the 4000D look with RGB fans
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i5 Six Core Processor i5-12600 (3.3GHz) 18MB Cache Meant to be Intel i5 12600K but is currently out of stock. You really want to go 12th gen with Intel, 11th gen was incredibly poor in comparison and with 12th gen being on a brand new platform it's a no brainer with future prep in mind
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING Z690-PLUS WIFI D4 (LGA1700, USB 3.2, PCIe 5.0) - ARGB Ready Ample motherboard for the 12600K
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 16GB) I've upped to 32GB for your Photoshop uses
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3060 Ti - HDMI, DP, LHR Ample card for 1440p gaming. The 3070 is ideal, but not vital in any way
1st M.2 SSD Drive
512GB INTEL® 670p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3000MB/sR | 1600MB/sW) I'd recommend going for a dual drive layout. This 500GB SSD would be for Windows and applications.
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (2200 MB/R, 1500 MB/W) This 1TB SSD would be for games and active projects. This means if you need to reinstall windows for whatever reason you don't lose your work and need to reinstall your games
1st Storage Drive
2TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 256MB CACHE Archival storage of PS projects
External DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
8x Slim USB 2.0 External DVD-RW
Power Supply
CORSAIR 850W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET I've upped to an 850W PSU to give better overhead for future upgrades. It might be worth considering 1000W here with the power requirements of current gen GPU's
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
PCS FrostFlow 200 Series High Performance CPU Cooler Will provide perfectly capable cooling for the 12600K
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10/11 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Microsoft® Edge
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) Well worth the £5
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Subject to stock availability on pre-order products

Price: £1,731.00 including VAT and Delivery (£1,797 with 12600K)
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/intel-z690-pc/Cb7qS7uT35/
 
R

room509

Member
JUNI0R said:
Heya!

It's arguably impossible to 'futureproof' a PC with how quickly PC tech moves, but I've made choices here that will prepare your PC for the future as best as possible. Any questions, ask away!

Case
CORSAIR 4000D AIRFLOW TEMPERED GLASS GAMING CASE Fantastic choice- I noticed you added 3 LL120 fans, if you want an RGB case, it'd be best pick one PCS has available (Corsair 220T, Cooler Master TD500) or send one in, as this gives much better value. The Corsair 4000X is a great pick if you wanted the 4000D look with RGB fans
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i5 Six Core Processor i5-12600 (3.3GHz) 18MB Cache Meant to be Intel i5 12600K but is currently out of stock. You really want to go 12th gen with Intel, 11th gen was incredibly poor in comparison and with 12th gen being on a brand new platform it's a no brainer with future prep in mind
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING Z690-PLUS WIFI D4 (LGA1700, USB 3.2, PCIe 5.0) - ARGB Ready Ample motherboard for the 12600K
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 16GB) I've upped to 32GB for your Photoshop uses
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3060 Ti - HDMI, DP, LHR Ample card for 1440p gaming. The 3070 is ideal, but not vital in any way
1st M.2 SSD Drive
512GB INTEL® 670p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3000MB/sR | 1600MB/sW) I'd recommend going for a dual drive layout. This 500GB SSD would be for Windows and applications.
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (2200 MB/R, 1500 MB/W) This 1TB SSD would be for games and active projects. This means if you need to reinstall windows for whatever reason you don't lose your work and need to reinstall your games
1st Storage Drive
2TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 256MB CACHE Archival storage of PS projects
External DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
8x Slim USB 2.0 External DVD-RW
Power Supply
CORSAIR 850W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET I've upped to an 850W PSU to give better overhead for future upgrades. It might be worth considering 1000W here with the power requirements of current gen GPU's
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
PCS FrostFlow 200 Series High Performance CPU Cooler Will provide perfectly capable cooling for the 12600K
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10/11 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Microsoft® Edge
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) Well worth the £5
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Subject to stock availability on pre-order products

Price: £1,731.00 including VAT and Delivery (£1,797 with 12600K)
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/intel-z690-pc/Cb7qS7uT35/
Click to expand...
Hey, thanks for replying so quickly, and for your recommendations - really appreciate it!

You’re right about the future-proofing, but anything to put off worrying about upgrading in the immediate future. Your amendments sound great, especially the the dual drives. As for the fans, I do like the RGB, but I was more trying to get maximum fan-age for price and the 3 LL120’s seemed the way to go.

I’ll keep an eye out for when the 12600K is back in stock, and maybe by then the 3070 will be too, and then I can decide between that and the 3060 Ti.

Cheers!
 
G

Grombrindal

Member
I posted a spec last week similar to yours. I was told a Corsair water cooler would be better than a PCS air cooler because 12th generation chips emit a lot of heat, and it will be quieter. I think the PCS air cooler will be a rebranded one but I don't know which make.

I'm waiting for the 3070 as I want future proof 1440p gaming (as much as is possible). The 3060 Ti will play current titles but 2/3+ years it may struggle. The 3070 Ti isn't worth the extra cost.
 
R

room509

Member
ManojDhami4 said:
I posted a spec last week similar to yours. I was told a Corsair water cooler would be better than a PCS air cooler because 12th generation chips emit a lot of heat, and it will be quieter. I think the PCS air cooler will be a rebranded one but I don't know which make.

I'm waiting for the 3070 as I want future proof 1440p gaming (as much as is possible). The 3060 Ti will play current titles but 2/3+ years it may struggle. The 3070 Ti isn't worth the extra cost.
Click to expand...
Hi there,

Thanks for the reply, and for your suggestion. That’s given me some food for thought. I’m a bit weary of water cooling, probably a bit paranoid - water and electrics, do what?! I see the Corsair iCUE H115i is AIO which makes me feel a bit better as I’m not sure I’d be prepared to top up the water supply. That being said, wouldn’t it also mean that it’s effective shelf life is less considering evaporation? Bit beyond me.

Yeah, the 3070 Ti isn’t worth it. I see that the ETA on the 3070 being back in stock is Friday so fingers crossed and we can both put our orders in.

Cheers!
 
Martinr36

Martinr36

MOST VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
room509 said:
That being said, wouldn’t it also mean that it’s effective shelf life is less considering evaporation?
Click to expand...
The AIO coolers are sealed systems so no way it can evaporate, they also contain a non conductive coolant, which from my understanding is more like a gel, which in the rare occasion if it should leak it would just make a mess in the case
 
R

room509

Member
Martinr36 said:
The AIO coolers are sealed systems so no way it can evaporate, they also contain a non conductive coolant, which from my understanding is more like a gel, which in the rare occasion if it should leak it would just make a mess in the case
Click to expand...
And, just like that, I feel much more assured. Cheers, Martin!
 
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